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Manaslu 2003: Jeff Justman Dispatches
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Manaslu, at 8163 meters, is the eighth highest
peak in the world. It is located in the
west-central part of Nepal, and our team will
climb it by the original route. |
March 12, 2003 Jeff
Justman Dispatch
Namaste from
Kathmandu! I cannot say the flight over to Nepal was
the best one I have had. I believe while visiting the
health clinic in Washington to receive my Hepatitis A
shot, I picked up the flu, which I am still recovering
from. Oh well.
Team members for the
Manaslu Expedition are filtering in as Dan, myself,
and a couple of other folks are busy organizing
everything that needs to get done for a big expedition
(gear, food, Sherpas, porters, permits) and the fun
goes on and on. We will be putting the finishing
touches on everything and then we will depart on the
17th of March.
The Manaslu
Expedition will consist of two teams. The first team
of 6 climbers will leave for Manaslu Basecamp on the
17th. A second team of four climbers will leave
Kathmandu for B.C. on the 1st of April. For now, it is
back to organizing and getting all the ducks in a row.
March 13, 2003 Jeff
Justman Dispatch
Today I went to visit
a good friend of mine, Karma, who lives in Kathmandu.
Karma along with Lhawang Dhondup (who was our Sirdar
for the 2002 Mountain-Link
Dhaulagiri Expedition) owns and operates Nomad
Expeditions, a trekking/climbing agency for the
Himalayas.
Seeing that I miss my
5-year-old niece Sophie and my 3-year-old
trouble-making nephew Victor, it was nice to meet
Pema. Pema is Karma's 3-year-old daughter. I was quite
impressed as Pema took out her English alphabet
poster, which began with a giant A and a picture of an
Apple and she began to recite the alphabet.
After going through
the entire alphabet seven times (which by the way,
Pema was perfectly flawless), Pema placed the poster
on the wall, picked up a stick and began to "play"
teacher, teaching me the alphabet. That's when the
flashback began.
I always remember my
eighth grade English teacher. Not for teaching me the
alphabet (which I had perfected at a much younger
age), rather, I remember her for smacking me upside
the head. For what, you ask? Most likely for being a
smart mouth.
You see, as I was
reciting the alphabet perfectly for Pema, my new 3
year old Tibetan English teacher, A is for Apple, B is
for Ball, C is for Cat... Pema would come at me with
her stick ready to cuff me upside the head. As I
looked at Karma half laughing half frightened, he just
laughed. That's what the teachers do to her at Pema's
school, Karma replied. I asked what the teacher
looked like because if she is 4 foot 2 with a beehive
hairdo, then my 8th grade English teacher is teaching
abroad here in Nepal!
March 15, 2003 Jeff
Justman Dispatch
Yesterday, we spent
time with our Sherpas and Sirdar going over the
itinerary for our trek into Basecamp. Our Manaslu
expedition will have approximately 50 to 70 porters
helping us carry our gear into B.C., which lies at
16,000 feet on the North side of Manaslu.
We travel by bus to
the village of Ghorka and begin walking from
there...13 days! Yes, 13 days of continual trekking to
get into basecamp. Unfortunately, there will be no
creature comforts like tea houses along the way where
you can get a coke and a hot dog. It is just rugged,
remote terrain. However, 13 days should allow everyone
to slowly acclimatize.
On a different note,
in the local newspapers here in Kathmandu, the
headlines are all about a new peace agreement between
the government and the Maoist party. It appears they
have created a plan, which contains 22 codes to abide
by to maintain peace and understanding between the two
groups.
This is significant
news seeing how tourism has decreased in Nepal due to
people's fears regarding the Maoist situation in
Nepal. However, I can tell you first hand that Nepal
is a great place to be with all the same, smiling
faces of the local people.
 Dispatches
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